Former Al-Sudani coalition MP joins Sumeriyoun bloc

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi lawmaker Hussein Al-Ankoushi joined the Sumeriyoun parliamentary bloc, led by former Labor Minister Ahmed Al-Asadi, on Sunday after leaving former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani’s Reconstruction and Development Coalition (Al-Ima’ar wal Tanmiya).

“I believe in Sumeriyoun’s legislative and oversight role and its national political project, and I announce my decision to join the bloc in parliament,” Al-Ankoushi said in a statement.

He left the Reconstruction and Development Coalition following disputes over parliamentary committees and their leadership and subsequently served as an independent lawmaker.

Last December, the coalition condemned an audio recording attributed to Al-Ankoushi containing offensive remarks which reportedly includes references to senior Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, PSM leader Muqtada Al-Sadr, and former Popular Mobilization Forces deputy commander Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis. Iraq’s judiciary later issued an arrest warrant for Al-Ankoushi over the recording.

Al-Asadi, the head of the Sumeriyoun Bloc, is also among those targeted by the Dawn Crackdown (Sawlat Al-Fajr) anti-corruption campaign. He faces financial corruption allegations and an arrest warrant and left Iraq shortly after the operation began, according to a source.